Refugees Guatemala

December 21, 1990 | GEORGE RAMOS and TRACY WILKINSON, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

When Humberto Ortega went to see federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles several years ago to apply for political asylum, he decided not to show what he considered irrefutable proof of his need to stay here--a left arm mangled, he said, by Guatemalan authorities. Ortega is still so uncomfortable about his left arm--crooked and jutting at an awkward angle--that he is hesitant about being photographed.

Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo urged President Bush on Thursday to support legislation that would permit more Guatemalan refugees to remain in the United States and reported afterward that Bush responded "very positively." At a brief White House session that marked their first meeting, Portillo asked Bush to back a push to give refugees from the long Guatemalan civil war permission to remain here, just as Cuban and Nicaraguan refugees have been given special amnesties.

As jubilant representatives of Los Angeles' Salvadoran community praised the Clinton Administration on Tuesday for extending a refuge program, other local Central American advocacy groups intensified their efforts to get the same protection for Guatemalans in the United States. The push on behalf of Guatemalan immigrants came in the wake of the suspension of that country's constitution, the dissolution of its Congress and fears of a coup by the nation's powerful military.

Capping a controversy ringing with echoes of the Cold War, the House passed legislation just before midnight Wednesday that grants amnesty to Nicaraguan and Cuban immigrants and helps 500,000 settlers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Eastern Europe avert deportation. "It is historic," Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a chief sponsor of the provision, declared on the House floor. "It is in the great, generous, compassionate tradition of the United States."

Thousands of Guatemalan Indians who fled more than a decade ago to escape civil war and military repression are returning home, abandoning squalid refugee camps in Mexico and embarking on a peril-ridden journey to new communities here in the highlands. The hopeful refugees--some on foot, others piling in the backs of trucks--began leaving makeshift camps this week and heading south.

Kenneth Williams Bartolome, a refugee from violence in Guatemala, decided to abandon a dusty refugee camp in Mexico, where corn and beans could barely grow, and return home. He thought he was moving back to a fertile Guatemalan valley to rebuild his life and home on government-supplied land. Surprise. Bartolome, his wife, two children and about 100 other returning refugees found themselves instead at an equally dusty farming project here, with no available land, homes or food.

Once home to elegant restaurants and apartments, the streets of the Pico-Union District are now tired and unkept. Wrought iron guards many of the storefronts and weeds have overrun the spaces that concrete and trash have missed. It's a stark contrast to the lush green mountains and verdant countryside of Central America, yet the neighborhood has become home to the greatest concentration of Salvadorans outside El Salvador and the largest number of Guatemalans outside Guatemala.

The Guatemalan government and leftist guerrillas signed a deal Friday in Oslo on resettling refugees, a milestone on the road to ending a conflict in which more than 100,000 people have died. The two sides, meeting since Monday, signed the 12-page deal in the same mansion and on the same table where Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization delegations secretly initialed their historic peace accord on limited Palestinian autonomy last August.

Stunned by a second terrorist-style kidnaping of a Central American refugee here, activists demanded Saturday that law enforcement agencies take specific steps to improve their response to these attacks and a series of threats against Central Americans.

A judge gave final approval to a settlement that blocks deportation of as many as 500,000 refugees from war-torn El Salvador and Guatemala and allows them to reopen their cases seeking political asylum. The Bush Administration and refugee groups agreed in December to resolve a suit filed in 1985 that accused the federal government of denying asylum on the basis of improper political considerations.

The Guatemalan government and leftist guerrillas signed a deal Friday in Oslo on resettling refugees, a milestone on the road to ending a conflict in which more than 100,000 people have died. The two sides, meeting since Monday, signed the 12-page deal in the same mansion and on the same table where Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization delegations secretly initialed their historic peace accord on limited Palestinian autonomy last August.

As jubilant representatives of Los Angeles' Salvadoran community praised the Clinton Administration on Tuesday for extending a refuge program, other local Central American advocacy groups intensified their efforts to get the same protection for Guatemalans in the United States. The push on behalf of Guatemalan immigrants came in the wake of the suspension of that country's constitution, the dissolution of its Congress and fears of a coup by the nation's powerful military.

Ending more than a decade of exile, almost 2,500 Guatemalan refugees crossed into their native land Wednesday and prepared to rebuild their lives, despite continuing civil war and uncertain futures. Their return from refugee camps in southern Mexico clears the way for the repatriation of tens of thousands of Guatemalans who fled violence and military repression in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Thousands of Guatemalan Indians who fled more than a decade ago to escape civil war and military repression are returning home, abandoning squalid refugee camps in Mexico and embarking on a peril-ridden journey to new communities here in the highlands. The hopeful refugees--some on foot, others piling in the backs of trucks--began leaving makeshift camps this week and heading south.

One by one, the men descended from the hillsides of northern San Diego County to voice their concerns: Several feared forced recruitment into village militias in their homeland, some had received threats from the military or guerrillas there, while others spoke of relatives or friends who had "disappeared," never to surface again. "I'm afraid they'll kill me if I go back," said one man, Miguel Alfonso Martin, echoing a general preoccupation.

A judge gave final approval to a settlement that blocks deportation of as many as 500,000 refugees from war-torn El Salvador and Guatemala and allows them to reopen their cases seeking political asylum. The Bush Administration and refugee groups agreed in December to resolve a suit filed in 1985 that accused the federal government of denying asylum on the basis of improper political considerations.

A hearing has been scheduled for Monday in federal court in Brownsville, Tex., on a motion to overturn the U.S. government's policy of forcing Central American refugees to remain in South Texas while their asylum applications are processed. The Immigration and Naturalization Service had allowed refugees to travel to their destination cities to await evaluation. But last Dec.

In an unprecedented pact, the federal government agreed Wednesday to reconsider tens of thousands of cases involving Salvadoran and Guatemalan nationals whose requests for political asylum in the United States have been denied. Ending a five-year legal battle, the government also promised to stay many deportations and agreed that "discrimination . . . based on nationality is improper" in asylum judgments.

December 21, 1990 | GEORGE RAMOS and TRACY WILKINSON, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

When Humberto Ortega went to see federal immigration authorities in Los Angeles several years ago to apply for political asylum, he decided not to show what he considered irrefutable proof of his need to stay here--a left arm mangled, he said, by Guatemalan authorities. Ortega is still so uncomfortable about his left arm--crooked and jutting at an awkward angle--that he is hesitant about being photographed.

In an unprecedented pact, the federal government agreed Wednesday to reconsider tens of thousands of cases involving Salvadoran and Guatemalan nationals whose requests for political asylum in the United States have been denied. Ending a five-year legal battle, the government also promised to stay many deportations and agreed that "discrimination . . . based on nationality is improper" in asylum judgments.